July Holiday to Canada

rachel_green

Hello

Hubby and I intend to travel to Canada late, late June/ early July for about 2 weeks.

We want to visit Vancouver and will probably fly straight there and we want to stop on our way home in Toronto and visit family there.


Would be grateful for suggestions of
1. Where else we should go to (have thought about travelling through the Rockies via train or visiting other nearby cities/areas so would be grateful for suggestions)


Some background info

1. We will be travelling from Ireland
2. We don't want to hire a car and drive
3. We will be spending the last few days in Toronto (touching base with family) and flying back from there.
4. Apart from spending some time in Toronto we don't have any strong, definately must visit places
5. We are in our mid 30's and early 40's, no kids
6. How can we keep this Money saving. I like my nice hotels though - so we won't be hosteling
7. How much will this cost and what about spending money, maximum budget of about £4000

Any help or suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thank you

jackieblack

We're spending some time in Vancouver later this year as part of a 3 week roadtrip around the pacific northwest USA & BC.

TBH your budget looks a bit tight, considering your comment regarding nice hotels. Transatlantic flights have gone up ALOT this year, I've just had a quick look and couldn't find anything under about £800 each (BA, open jaw on Kayak) for your trip/dates.
Generally prices in Canada seem to be more expensive than the USA, for a 'nice' hotel you're looking at an average £100 per night, so flights plus accomodation approx £3k, then you've got travelling expenses across/within Canada and food/drink plus any sightseeing/entry/activity costs etc.

Not saying it can't be done for £4k, just not sure how 'nice' your budget will allow your hotels to be.

We found flying into Seattle (about 150 miles south of Vancouver) was several hundred pounds cheaper than flying into Vancouver, but without a car I'm not sure how practical that would be for you (I haven't researched public transport as we will be fly-driving)

rachel_green

We are looking for some way (cheap way) of travelling from Vancouver to the Rockies.

have looked at moose network http://www.moosenetwork.com/_d/pdf/13/Departures_2011.pdf

and this would be ideal but it is really aimed at 18-35's and we are an 'old' married couple (mid 30's and early 40's) and feel that we are too long in the tooth for this and dorm style hostels even if the price was unbelievable

Can anyone advise of similar companies for the slightly older please!

travellerboy

rachel_green wrote: »

We are looking for some way (cheap way) of travelling from Vancouver to the Rockies

.

One bit of advise, fly to Seattle. It can be considerably cheaper from the UK and it is very easy to travel onto Vancouver.

jenny-wren

We have family in Vancouver and have been over there many times. If you have a driving licence don't be put off driving over there. I was nervous at first but have now clocked up thousands of kilometres. Driving is by far the best way to travel, especially with a wee one. The roads are wide, parking spaces huge and a car can be rented fairly cheaply. If you spot wildlife (we saw moose and black bears) you can stop and watch from the safety of your car.

We flew to Calgary, picked up a car, drove around the Rockies (Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper) and then drove to Vancouver. You could easily fly to Seattle, drive to Vancouver (a very easy 2 hour drive), see the Rockies and fly to Toronto from Calgary.

You might be able to get a good deal on self catering accommodation around Banff or Jasper which could keep the costs down. I can give you a few suggestions (where we stayed) by PM if it would help.

I'm jealous ... a beautiful part of the world to visit!

jenny-wren

Rachel

Sent you a PM.

Apologies - I had misread your thread and thought there were three of you travelling. That'll teach me to be reading two threads at once!!

ailuro2

We loved Whistler, great atmosphere, tonned of things to do and much cheaper than doing it in the Rockies. we stayed in the Marriott at the top of the road there, you go pop your head out onto the ski slope after breakfast every morning to check for bears on the slopes - they might well be at that time of year We went down to Kananaskis country and did soem horseriding there, but our favourite activity was Quad biking up whistler/blackcomb. DD and I did a bear trip with a bear researcher, was wonderful but expensive.

When we got to the Rockies we stayed in Canmore, just down the road from Banff ( you end up driving lots in Canada anyway) at a place called thre Falcon Crest Lodge. Best hotel we've stayed in to date, only thing missing was a pool. not the cheapest, but spotless and really well kitted out ( we had a two bed apartment, complete with granite worktops in the kitchen area, has its own washer, dryer, gas bbq....) We went horseback riding out of Banff, across rivers etc, felt very exciting.

In toronto we stayed in the Grand Hotel and suites along from the Eton centre, but if you're visiting family you might be crashing at their. Niagara is a must-see since you're in Toronto, as is the trip up the CN tower.


http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g181727-d551050-Reviews-Falcon_Crest_Lodge-Canmore_Canmore_and_Kananaskis_Alberta.html


Don't worry about doing the whole country - once you've been once you'll want to go back again. They really know how to do service well over there, much better than their southern neighbours, eh?;)

jenny-wren

ailuro2 wrote: »

We loved Whistler, great atmosphere, tonned of things to do and much cheaper than doing it in the Rockies. we stayed in the Marriott at the top of the road there, you go pop your head out onto the ski slope after breakfast every morning to check for bears on the slopes - they might well be at that time of year We went down to Kananaskis country and did soem horseriding there, but our favourite activity was Quad biking up whistler/blackcomb. DD and I did a bear trip with a bear researcher, was wonderful but expensive.

We've been to Whistler too. Beautiful place. It's about 2 hours drive from Vancouver. There should still be snow at the top of the mountain in June so you could have blazing sunshine in the village and snow at the top of the chairlift. We were lucky enough to see a black bear playing with 3 cubs right underneath us when we went up on the chairlift.

If you decide on the Rockies why not try out whitewater rafting. We went in Jasper and it was a great experience.

withabix

travellerboy wrote: »

One bit of advise, fly to Seattle. It can be considerably cheaper from the UK and it is very easy to travel onto Vancouver.

<

---

Avatar is the fountain at the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, taken by me December 27th 2004


Seattle flight prices have often been found to be higher this year than Vancouver!

It is unusual and posters on Flyertalk have typical opinion that this is due to a reduction in the number of flights to Seattle.


We're off to YVR again on 10th July....not many weeks now!

As this year's trip is part holiday, part employment-seeking, we're not doing a big road trip this time, as I have a couple of interviews lined up. We are however doing a trip across to Tofino (although probably staying in Nanaimo) and Victoria, travelling out via Horseshoe bay and back via Tsawwassen.

Overall, we are currently in Langley on the first night (visiting Sis-In-Law), over to Nanaimo (2 nights), then back to Vancouver (1 night). After that we are going across HW1 and Coquihalla to F-I-L's lakeside house near Kamloops for a few days (Blisss!!!!!), followed by Kelowna for a couple of nights. We will then return back to lower Fraser Valley via southern Okanagan and possibly go down to Seattle for a couple for days before our return home.

Hopefully this will be our LAST holiday in BC and the next flight after that should be The Big Move! (crosses everything, because immigrating to Canada is much harder than it is to the UK!!!)

jenny-wren

I was just wondering ... did you have a good holiday?